THE SA Human Rights Commission has been dragged into a protracted battle for a school bus to save a disabled teenager the plight of travelling 10km to catch a ride to school.
A Welkom mother wakes up at 4am every day and travels a combined 10km on foot to take her 15-year-old son to a pick-up point.
This is because the bus driver refuses to enter Thabong township, fearing criminal attacks.
Young Karabo Pholwane, 15, is wheelchair-bound and mentally disabled. He is a pupil at Amari special school.
His mother Memesi Pholwane wakes up early every morning to prepare him for school and later fetches him at the same spot where he boards the school bus.
"He [the bus driver] said there was crime in Thabong and [he] would not come in," Pholwane said.
The driver, who identified himself only as De Klerk, said: "Traditionally, we do not pick the children up in Thabong. But I really can't comment and you should speak to the principal."
The single mother said she had asked the school principal to help, without much success.
"They talk about crime, yet children from Bronville, a [predominantly] coloured township, are picked up from their homes.
"There is a lot of crime in Bronville as well," she said.
The Disabled People of South Africa was also enraged by Pholwane's plight. Provincial manager Mokati Moledi said he had tried to intervene.
"I spoke to the Lejweleputswa district about this matter and they promised to assist, but nothing was done," Moledi said.
He has involved the SAHRC to try and find a way to help.
"I reported the school to the commission because there was nothing else I could do," he said.
The commission's provincial chairman Buang Jones confirmed that a complaint had been lodged with his office.
School principal Phillip Schots sounded surprised that a complaint had been made to the commission.
"No parent has ever complained to me. Please ask the parents to come and speak to me about this matter," Schots said.
Spokesman for the department of education Howard Ndaba was not available for comment at the time of going to print.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Disabled teen's 10km to school bus - driver won't enter area boy lives in
THE SA Human Rights Commission has been dragged into a protracted battle for a school bus to save a disabled teenager the plight of travelling 10km to catch a ride to school.
A Welkom mother wakes up at 4am every day and travels a combined 10km on foot to take her 15-year-old son to a pick-up point.
This is because the bus driver refuses to enter Thabong township, fearing criminal attacks.
Young Karabo Pholwane, 15, is wheelchair-bound and mentally disabled. He is a pupil at Amari special school.
His mother Memesi Pholwane wakes up early every morning to prepare him for school and later fetches him at the same spot where he boards the school bus.
"He [the bus driver] said there was crime in Thabong and [he] would not come in," Pholwane said.
The driver, who identified himself only as De Klerk, said: "Traditionally, we do not pick the children up in Thabong. But I really can't comment and you should speak to the principal."
The single mother said she had asked the school principal to help, without much success.
"They talk about crime, yet children from Bronville, a [predominantly] coloured township, are picked up from their homes.
"There is a lot of crime in Bronville as well," she said.
The Disabled People of South Africa was also enraged by Pholwane's plight. Provincial manager Mokati Moledi said he had tried to intervene.
"I spoke to the Lejweleputswa district about this matter and they promised to assist, but nothing was done," Moledi said.
He has involved the SAHRC to try and find a way to help.
"I reported the school to the commission because there was nothing else I could do," he said.
The commission's provincial chairman Buang Jones confirmed that a complaint had been lodged with his office.
School principal Phillip Schots sounded surprised that a complaint had been made to the commission.
"No parent has ever complained to me. Please ask the parents to come and speak to me about this matter," Schots said.
Spokesman for the department of education Howard Ndaba was not available for comment at the time of going to print.
selebim@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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